WASHINGTON, USA | XINHUA | The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines available should go to workers on the frontlines, according to a report released Friday amid the ethical debate over who should get vaccinated first. The report, commissioned by the U.S. government and published by the non-profit National Academies of …
Read More »India’s COVID-19 tally surpasses 6 million, vaccine expected early next year
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | India’s COVID-19 tally is steeply rising, surpassing 6 million on Monday, while the country’s Health Minister Harsh Vardhan pinned hopes on the development of the first vaccine by early next year. “Research to develop a vaccine is being done expeditiously. There are at least three …
Read More »Rich nations purchased more than half of COVID-19 vaccine candidates: Oxfam
Beijing, China | XINHUA | Wealthy countries, including the United States, Britain and Japan, have purchased more than half of the expected COVID-19 vaccine supply, global anti-poverty charitable organization Oxfam has said. Rich countries have bought up to 51 percent of the promised doses of leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates, while …
Read More »UN chief calls for int’l solidarity to find vaccine accessible to all
United Nations | XINHUA | United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called on the international community to get united and find a vaccine that is accessible to all. “As the COVID-19 pandemic has upended our world, we have once again seen that international solidarity is no longer a choice, but …
Read More »COVID-19 vaccines to be prioritized for some people in all countries: WHO chief
Geneva, Switzerland | XINHUA | “Initially, when supply of COVID-19 vaccine is limited, priority must be given to vaccinating essential workers and those most at risk, or in other words, vaccinating some people in all countries rather than all people in some countries,” the World Health Organization (V) Director-General Tedros …
Read More »WHO roots for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccine in Africa
Nairobi, Kenya | XINHUA | The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that donors and industry should allocate sufficient resources to ensure that African countries have access to a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine. Richard Mihigo, Program Area Manager of Immunization and Vaccine Development of WHO, said the needs …
Read More »Constant surges of coronavirus infections expected without a vaccine
Brussels, Belgium | XINHUA | The head of the European health advisory body warned on Wednesday that constant surges and decreases of COVID-19 cases will continue until a vaccine is available. Andrea Ammon, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, said that the increase in cases in …
Read More »Kickstarting economies without COVID-19 plan, ‘a recipe for disaster’: WHO
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Countries that are opening their economies must be serious about suppressing COVID-19 infections, to save the world from a disaster that could arise from opening up without a plan, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. To control transmission, the who chief …
Read More »MOH calls for routine immunization despite Africa declared free of polio
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health has warned parents not to misinterpret Tuesday’s declaration by the World Health Organization that Africa is polio-free. In an interview with Dr Alfred Driwale, the manager of the Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunization (UNEPI) in the Ministry of Health …
Read More »WHO chief warns against vaccine nationalism
Geneva, Switzerland | XINHUA | The World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Tuesday that the world needs to prevent vaccine nationalism so as to guarantee the equitable access and fair allocation of COVID-19 vaccines. Speaking at a virtual press briefing from Geneva, the WHO head said that …
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